The many lenses of Robin Layton

When you first see her fine art collection of photographic images, you know she was born an artist. Then you hear about her days as a photojournalist, and you realize she’s always been breaking new ground.

Case in point: If you’re a baseball fan—you can’t help but remember the photo below. Ken Griffey, Jr. joyfully smiles at home plate under a “dog pile” of fellow Mariners, after he scored the game-winning run in the playoff series against the Yankees in 1995.

She wasn’t supposed to be assigned to third base that night–her editor at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer told her to take her place at first. But at the last minute, a fellow shooter asked if he could work that position, and Layton said okay. That dude is probably in rehab right now. Many consider this photograph one of the most memorable images of Griffey’s storied career.

Celebrity Cool:

Layton has since carved out a super successful, lucrative career shooting celebrity portraits and weddings. Some of her clients include: Oprah Winfrey, Felicity Huffman, Jennifer Aniston, Kenny G., and Tobey McGuire. Huffman, seen below at a recent Layton exhibition in West Hollywood, raves enthusiastically about Robin’s unique gift to capture what no one else can.

Now, this super cool Angeleno/Seattleite has turned her lens toward the marriage of an unlikely duo: nature and industry. Once declared one of the world’s eight most talented photographers by Life magazine, Layton gracefully juxtaposes stunning photographic abstractions with quirky remnants of industrial hardware, antique farm equipment, and weathered doors and windows. At top, she pairs a rare Midwestern barn vent with delicate images of egrets captured in Point Reyes, California.

Below, Layton nestles “Nest Egg” within a set of blue shutters with original paint from the 1800s, and (at bottom), she frames Big Bear “Monet Trees” with a funky cranberry picker from the 1930s. Definitely worth checking out her sites: (Fine art: robinlaytonworks.com) (Commercial: robinlayton.com)